


Aphonia

by fightforyourwrite



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Jean, F/M, Mute Jean, book worm mikasa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 11:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3567410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightforyourwrite/pseuds/fightforyourwrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aphonia: The loss of ability to speak through disease of or damage to the larynx or mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aphonia

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a one shot I posted on tumblr originally called By The Chem Lab. I'm posting it here just in case I want to add chapters to it, because I'm a bit fond of this AU.

There had been several occasions where she had seen him before. It was impossible to not see every single face in the school at least once considering how many people went to the damn place. When she first got a look at him that day, Mikasa only recalled him as a guy who had a locker near the chemistry lab and not much more. 

But when she let that look continue, Mikasa started knowing him as a guy who was getting escorted out of the library by the one and only librarian; along with a Sasha Braus, someone Mikasa saw as a teammate on the soccer team, and Connie Springer, someone who Mikasa could only see as Sasha’s personal cheerleader at every single game. 

It was only when Mikasa pushed the book cart into the corner of the library where the trio had been hanging out, being tasked with the deed of re-organizing the history section, when she finally got onto a first name basis with him. She spotted a discarded book on the ground, and due to her duties as a library volunteer, she did what she commonly did with dropped books and knelt down to pick it up. She expected the leather-bound pages to contain printed words about World War 2 battles, or graphs showing the death tolls of any given battle; but instead, when Mikasa opened the book, what she found turned out to something different. 

The pages were adorned with drawings, gentle strokes and pencil marks mixed together perfectly to project an image onto the smooth surface. Mikasa knew it was best to not be nosy, but before she closed the book, she couldn’t help but notice how well an iris was drawn on one page; or how perfectly the shading on one drawing of a motorcycle happened to be. It was remarkable work, she had to admit. But due to basic human decency and school policy, Mikasa knew she had to return the book back eventually.

Therefore, when Mikasa finished re-organizing the history section, she came back to the library's main desk with only one book left on the cart. 

The librarian, Ms. Ral, sat at the desk as she checked out random books to random students. She was a rather pretty lady, someone who could somehow bear to hold a positive smile on her face every single hour. Ms. Ral was known for being kind to everyone, and Mikasa would never be an exception. 

“Finished already?"

The student nodded slowly, “Yes, Ms. Ral. Hey, who were those people that you escorted out a few minutes ago?” 

“I don’t know their names that well,” Ms. Ral admitted. “But I recall the two loud ones calling themselves Sasha and Connie, but that taller one with the uh… horsy face, I think, he barely spoke at all and looked pissed when I told him to leave.” 

“Sasha and Connie, okay,” Mikasa said, grabbing the sketchbook once more and flipping through the pages. She did not intend to look at the drawings, but instead, searched around to find a name that sounded close to Sasha and Connie. However, the name she ended up finding was not what she expected. “Yeah, this probably belongs to the horsy-face guy.”

“Did he leave that behind?” Ms. Ral asked. 

Mikasa nodded, “Yeah, I think so.” She read the name off the sketchbook’s pages, “Apparently, his name is Jean Kirschtein.” 

“Sounds french,” Ms. Ral commented. 

“And kinda jewish,” Mikasa added on mindlessly. She closed the book, “I don’t think I’ve heard of the guy, but I think I know where his locker is.” 

“Ah,” Ms. Ral agreed. “I trust that you can take it to him, but if you can’t find him, just give the book back to me, okay?”

“Okay,” Mikasa agreed. And setting the sketchbook aside, Mikasa didn’t think about the drawings or the name again that period until the bell rang. 

With her library duties done for the day, Mikasa decided to utilize the small 5 minutes between lunch and afternoon classes to track down this  _Jean Kirschtein_  and give him his book back. 

Walking to the hall outside the chemistry lab, where she knew she had seen him once or twice before, Mikasa kept the book tucked underneath her arm as she navigated through the high school. Like a lone sailor in a sea of people, Mikasa’s journey ended at her destination. Thankfully, her guess was correct, and lo and behold, the same horsy-faced guy from before was at his locker by the chemistry lab, grabbing textbooks and papers out of the small space. Headphones plugged in his ears, he seemed to be in his own little world when Mikasa approached him. 

She spoke just loudly enough to rise above the sound of the hallway’s tenants, “Hey.” 

He looked at her curiously. His eyes were an average hazel-green that she had seen plenty of times before; but his mere gaze was sharp enough to cut through steel. 

Mikasa decided to be straightforward with her task, “I found this in the library during lunch period.” She held up the sketchbook to him, “Are you Jean?”

A nod of his head confirmed it. 

“Here you go then,” Mikasa said, handing it over. “And I didn’t snoop… a lot, but I saw a few pages.” 

The sharpness of his gaze was suddenly replaced with anger and betrayal, and rather abruptly as well. 

“Don’t be so mad,” Mikasa said just a little bit defensively. “They’re good, okay? I liked them.” 

Words that were meant to assure him didn’t work as effectively as she expected. But at least he seemed less aggressive at the moment. 

Mikasa rolled her eyes, “A thank you is usually expected right now.” 

Jean sighed and pointed to himself, then quickly proceeded to lift his hand to his chin and pull it away two times. He was mouthing words as well, but not speaking at all. 

In all honesty, Mikasa was confused, “I’m sorry, what?” 

A grumbling noise was heard before Jean performed the action again. 

Once more, Mikasa asked the only question on her mind, “What?”

Groaning loudly, Jean opened up the door of his locker, revealing a pad of paper attached to the door. He took a pen out of his pocket and wrote a few words on the pad to enlighten her on the situation.

_I’m mute._

And like that, everything made sense. The actions he did was him signing, and the reasons why he didn’t reply back to her was because… he couldn’t. 

Mikasa felt unbelievably stupid at this point, “Oh, god… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Jean shrugged his shoulders in a casual matter. 

“It’s just, you don’t look mute,” Mikasa blurted out, suddenly realizing that she should not have said that moments after it was uttered. 

Jean rolled his eyes and wrote on the pad again. 

_And you don’t look ignorant._

For a guy who couldn’t speak, he sure had a notorious amount of sass inside his mind. Whilst she recovered from his remark towards her, Jean wrote on the pad once more. 

_But thanks for returning my book._

He put down the pen and closed his locker before proceeding to put his sketchbook back inside his backpack. 

“No problem,” Mikasa said, watching Jean as he finally stood back up. “And I’m sorry for saying that. I really shouldn’t have.”

Jean moved his hand and mouthed a few words that seemed to communicate:  _Forget about it._

Abruptly, the bell rung, signalling the students of the school that their freedom of lunch was over, and that they had to return back to the ultimate reality that was their classes. 

“See you around then,” Mikasa said, walking off. 

Jean nodded his head and mouthed, while signing:  _You too._  

And wordlessly, but not because one of them lacked the ability to speak, the two separated from that point. But at least at this point, Mikasa finally knew him as more than just the guy who had a locker by the chemistry lab. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it. This is a bit modified from the tumblr one shot, but those are just general edits and such.


End file.
